Digital Transformation Winner: DOST Agency – Azerbaijan
The DOST Agency has been at the forefront of digital innovation in social services, enhancing accessibility and inclusivity through its one-stop shop model. By integrating digital solutions and citizen feedback into service delivery, the agency ensures that people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups receive tailored support that meets their needs effectively.
Discover the transformative journey of DOST Agency, as they share their experience of implementing digital solutions in social services and the impact of their award-winning project in Digital Transformation.
- What does winning a European Social Services Award mean for your organisation? How do you feel about this recognition and experience?
For the DOST Agency, this is an invaluable recognition of efforts towards the goals we set to achieve in the social protection sphere. It means that we, together with our European counterparts, are forging ahead on a challenging way to attain social well-being in our countries. Moreover, it motivates us to work harder to achieve our goals.
- Why did you choose to apply for the 2024 European Social Services Awards?
ESN is one of the most reputable organizations in Europe in the social sphere, and we, as ESN member, treat ESSA as an opportunity to showcase our achievements to the whole ESN network. We are proud that this is our second European Social Services Award, and we will apply in the upcoming years as well.
- What is the added value of being part of a European Network for your organisation? Why is it important to share practice and projects with other actors across Europe?
The success of the DOST Agency’s one-stop shop model is also based on the experience and best practices of the most advanced organizations worldwide engaged in social protection. ESN is a great knowledge-sharing platform for its members. Today, along with studying other organizations’ achievements we already share our experience with others and observe increased interest in studying the DOST model.
- How does your winning project support inclusion in the community?
We established a well-formed working mechanism focusing on listening, analyzing, and responding to the needs of people with disabilities. Based on their feedback, we introduced new services and brought changes to existing service procedures, addressed the raised issues to relevant structures and monitored its implementation. All these ensured inclusiveness and became decisive in maintaining the high citizen satisfaction level of the project.
- What were the key reasons for the success of your project?
For DOST, being on the frontline of social services delivery in Azerbaijan, continuous improvement is critical. This project was developed in cooperation with civil society representatives, including PWD-related NGOs. This helped us to develop an integrated strategy, and action plan to enable our project to reach its goal of increasing inclusion and community engagement among diverse community members.
- Why should an organisation enter the Awards in 2025?
Every year the number of organizations applying to ESSA with projects in the social sphere has been increasing. This, in turn, opens horizons for more applications to be submitted. ESN, as a reputable international platform, gives enough opportunities to enter awards by many organizations. When the project enters the award competition, especially when it is a winner, it motivates other organizations to learn from that experience.
Learn more about the Digital Transformation category and all the shortlisted projects in 2024. Here you can explore all the categories of the 2024 European Social Services Awards.